Knowing that many people who read this blog are not just beer drinkers but are also involved in the industry, and knowing how difficult it is to find suitable real estate in Seattle these days, I thought it would be wise to share this opportunity with the Washington Beer Blog’s audience.
After the Winter Beer Fest last weekend, Kim and I took the dog down to the off-leash area. We were not alone. Place was packed. One of us literally said, “How cool would it be if there was a brewery or a taproom right around here?”
Literally. That conversation happened last Saturday. A couple days later, completely out of the blue, I was contacted by Cole Dietrich, the Tenant Development Coordinator at Warren G. Magnuson Park in Seattle. Apparently they have a space available that he believes would be a good fit for a brewery or taproom in an historic building along the shores of Lake Washington. Talk about kismet!
Seriously, a brewery and/or taproom at Magnuson Park would be a big hit. Not only because of all the people who use the park, but because the neighborhood sorely needs something like this.
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“We believe we have a building that would be the perfect location for a Brewery/Taproom along with offering some kind of food service to the park,” Cole Dietrich said. “We have a brick building consisting of roughly 1800 square feet located on the water overlooking Lake Washington. We have received an abundance of requests for food and beer service in the park.”
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So, let me get this straight. Here is a property owner who is actively seeking a brewery and/or taproom as a tenant. That’s not something you hear very often around Seattle these days.
In addition to the 1,800 square feet, there exists the possibility to build a 1,400 square-foot deck out front, which would be amazing in the spring and summer. Your neighbors are the Cascade Bicycle Club and Sail Sand Point (a non-profit community boating center). Sure, it’s an older building so there would be some tenant improvements needed, but according to Dietrich, they could “offset these costs with a decreased rental rate until the time that investment can be recouped.” In short, this is probably only worthwhile if someone is interested in a multiyear lease.
The address is
7777 62nd Avenue Northeast
Seattle, WA 98115
MAP
Interested parties should contact Cole Dietrich at 206-684-4218 or Cole.Dietrich@Seattle.gov
Here is the real estate flyer:
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No mystery! It’s nearly next door to Cascade Bicycle Club HQ. Thirsty biker types…
Good article. One other key point not yet mentioned is the site’s proximity to Arena Sports (across a parking lot). Post-game beers for the many adult teams that play there would be very popular. Thirsty soccer types…
The view is unreal in the summer and beautiful even on the cloudy days. Sail Sand Point keeps the area hopping with parents dropping kiddos off for bike camps, sail camps. Also, The Mountaineers are just around the corner. We are all thirsty, hungry outdoorsy-types!
Right there in the park there are tons of communities to converge and make that spot hum w/ activity: Cascade Bicycle Club, Arena Sports, Sail Sand Point, Mountaineers (rent out their space weekly), Dog park, Soccer fields, …and the list goes on! #Upvote
While I would be the first to celebrate a decent brewery at Magnuson, Seattle Parks isn’t making this a slam dunk by any means. If someone wanted to open a brewery/restaurant in the park, this location wouldn’t be very high on their list.
Visibility and access will be a challenge for a business in this location with only one road 62nd AV NE, leading into and out of the North end of the park. This road is already fairly busy with arena sports gym users and parent picking up or dropping kids off as mentioned in other comments. Deliveries and service will have to make the slog up from the NE 74th street entrance, through the backed up traffic waiting to get into or out of the park. People will start parking up along the shoulder of Sand Point Way near the BG-Trail access, creating yet another uncontrolled access situation (see 7-eleven at 74th street) into and out of a fair bit of traffic.
Maybe this will get SDOT and Seattle Parks to make some long overdue adjustments at Magnuson, for example opening the gates connecting 63rd AV NE to NOAA Drive before the guardhouse to provide a second ingress/egress into the north end of the park.
With all of that said, I do sincerely hope someone takes advantage of this opportunity if for nothing else so that I can walk over and enjoy a beer in a beautiful park.